A stalwart of British blues scene, the great Jack Lancaster died a few days ago, and the world will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of rock version of “Peter And The Wolf” – a star-studded album which the sax player co-created with keyboardist Robin Lumley and considered one of their best works – without him. Of course, Jack was primary known as a founding member, together with Mick Abrahams, of the mighty BLODWYN PIG whose two classic platters featured such compositions as “The Modern Alchemist” and “San Francisco Sketches” that perfectly outlined Lancaster’s conceptual approach to music, but there would be many recordings the veteran blared on so melodically, although the only other prominent ensemble he took part in, alongside Mick Rogers, were AVIATOR.
And then there were many records on which Jack guested, including solo offerings by Pete Brown and Rod Argent, Alvin Lee and Anthony Phillips, Bill Ward and Country Joe McDonald, as well as “Unorthodox Behaviour” by BRAND X. “I have done sessions all over the world and in many different ways they were all interesting,” said Lancaster to this scribe many years ago. “Some of them float along effortlessly and others are filled with tension. Personally I prefer the ones that are filled with good humor, fortunately they are not so rare.”
Through the decades, Lancaster continued collaborating with Lumley – and was heartbroken when Robin passed away in 2023 – and Mick Farren, and released a few solo opuses, the most acclaimed of those being 1980’s “Skinningrove Bay” where old friends Gary Moore and Phil Collins made an appearance, and the last, with the likes of Gary Brooker on board, "Carnival Of The Animals" from 2016 he felt so excited about. Jack was always happy to keep me informed of his endeavors and always happy to talk about his grandchildren. He will be sorely missed by all privileged to have known the man.
